Shunned by the NCAA women's soccer committee for a regional seed, defending NCAA Division I women's champion Portland opens its title defense with a tough test against BYU Thursday in Salt Lake City, Utah. Host Utah meets Idaho State in the only other first-round game being played on Thursday.
The Pilots finished sixth in the final of the regular season. They were 14-3-3 with all three losses and two of their three ties coming against teams in the 64-team NCAA tournament field. But UP lost all three of its big games, falling to No. 2 North Carolina, No. 4 Santa Clara and No. 7 Florida State.
Megan Rapinoe, last year's Soccer America Women's Freshman of the Year, was lost for the season with a knee injury, but Michelle Enyeart is a candidate to succeed Rapinoe as the nation's top freshman. The Pilots have plenty of experience in juniors Stephanie Lopez and Angie Woznuk, U.S. internationals like Rapinoe.
Portland has a history of success when being shipped off for preliminary round games. In 2002, the Pilots were sent to Provo, Utah, for games as the No. 8 seed and went on to become the lowest seed to ever win the championship. Last year, Portland was a No. 1 seed but was still sent to Lincoln, Neb., for its first two matches before going on to win its second title.
This year is a little different, as BYU is ranked No. 14 and Utah, a potential second-round opponent, is No. 10.
BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood is looking forward to facing Portland.
''We get to the play the defending national champs, which is great,'' she says. ''We play well and get up for talented teams. I think we have a lot to look forward to.''